


Let the Sea take me to Malta

by Maria21



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Heart Imagery, Love letter to malta, M/M, Malta, Two people in love in a hot country, nico/yusuf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26148418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maria21/pseuds/Maria21
Summary: A short snippet of Nico and Yusuf's time in Malta
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Let the Sea take me to Malta

The only true way to travel to Malta is by boat. Air travel had picked up in the last decade or two but flying to Malta was like sneaking in through the hidden servant’s entrance in a dirty back alley instead of being welcomed through the grandest of front doors with a parade of beauty there to welcome you. 

Of course the way to enter Malta is, always has been and always will be by boat. At least that’s how Nico felt. He sensed Yusuf lean against the railing beside him taking in the view. The Grand Harbour of Malta is an impressive site to behold. At first as you approach there is nothing but the sea. You’re straining your eyes hoping to find something solid amongst the shifting waves. The heat from the sun and the salt from the sea are conspiring to slowly leech all the moisture from your skin. Despite this. Don’t move. 

It will rise up before you as if it’s a mirage. First the two tips of the watch towers at the mouth of the harbour. Perched on top of the harbour defences. There hasn’t been a siege of Malta since 1942 but you can’t shake the feeling that the 500 year old watch towers are watching nonetheless. They’ll solidify as you get closer and then you can start to appreciate the scale of the harbour defences. The sun is beating down on you from the sky whilst the colour of the limestone that makes up the massive fortifications lining the harbour seems to be amplifying that effect. 

Yusuf speaks interrupting the almost rapturous trance Nico had fallen into.   
“The Phoenicians called this place Maleth which means safe harbour” Nico already knew this but he adored hearing Yusuf speak.

“It does not yet feel safe for us, look how all the cannons are positioned to point at us” Yusuf laughed at this observation. One he had also made, several lifetimes of being a warrior trained you to notice these things. It was very true as you sailed into the harbour on your left and on your right you could stare directly into the eyes of ominous black cannons. They sat in slits hidden in the looming forts, they lined terraces.   
“It is true my love, the enemies of the island rarely found this harbour to be safe. I am happy that this time we sail in as friends and not foes”   
There were other things that they noted as warriors that the seasonal tourists did not appreciate. The star shaped forts that would make it very difficult to land a 90 degree hit with a cannon on a ship. The deep ditch running around the capital city where The knights had tried to turn their new home into an island, the watchtowers everywhere. Some with stone eyes carved into them gazing balefully at their guests in the harbour.

They spent their first week in Malta in the capital city, Valletta. They walked the streets in the morning before the unforgiving sun turned the smallest capital city in Europe into the largest stone oven in Europe. Parts of it had changed since they were here last.

“what do you think yusuf?” Nicolo asked breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen around them as Yusuf sketched. It was often like this between them. The long years together had left them truly at ease with each other. Like the left and the right ventricle of the heart. They did not need to speak to beat in sync as it came naturally. Like the heart one of them could be strong and forceful whilst the other was precise and delicate but without one side the other would inevitably fail.   
“I actually quite like it” Yusuf replied casting a critical eye over the drawing of the new parliament, a very modern building contrasting with the ancient fortress to the side of it. Nicolo watched him, knowing he would elaborate further, he loved Yusuf when he was like this. Focused on a task but always happy and willing to share it with Nico. So that for a few minutes of the day he could see the world like the love of his life saw it. Cast in the warm glow of beauty and romance.   
“Yes it is modern but it is bold. It is not an eyesore as I have heard some people describe it. It suits the city, look how the strong lines evoke the feelings of this fortress city and look how the windows bring to mind the weathering of the stone that you can see on the oldest of the walls here” Nico looked obediently following the gesturing of Yusuf’s pencil and absorbing the words.   
“What about the opera house?” Nico asked already knowing what he might say  
“That, I do not understand” Yusuf seemed as if he would like to say more but this was a well rehearsed conversation they had argued through many times.   
The opera house in question used to be a opulent building built by the English. It was destroyed during the bombing in world war II and rather than restore it the Maltese people had turned the ruins into an open air theatre with pillars of varying heights stretching up into the sky to hold up a ceiling that no longer exists.   
“I think it is beautiful” Nico said, “A reminder of the suffering and the damage caused by the war and a monument that life carries on despite this”   
“Why would they want to remember suffering,” Yusuf asked taking a sip of his now cooling coffee and refocusing on his drawings of the parliament. Nico abandoned the discussion as there was nothing new to be said today. Yusuf disliked ruins, they reminded him all too clearly of the dozens of places that used to be beloved to him which were now just piles of crumbling stones.   
Nico reached a hand across the table and laid it on top of Yusufs his thumb stroking along one prominent vein that always became very apparent in hot weather. He reached further lazily encircling Yusufs wrist with his long fingers. Yusuf looked up at that. He saw Nicos hand holding on to his wrist, with his whole body leaning over the small café table completely turned towards him as if he was the sun and Nico was the leaf of a plant that needed the sun to survive. Yusuf looked into his eyes and he smiled. Like every day for almost 1000 years two hearts felt like they had so much love in them they could explode at any second.

**Author's Note:**

> A love letter to Malta to give the fans of the movie who have never been a bit of an idea what it's like.   
> I didn't proofread this just posted it. I hope you enjoy it. I might write more if I'm feeling inspired.


End file.
